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18th Feb 2021

All of our appointments for our next clinics are now booked. As soon as we are informed of our next delivery dates we will be making more available to our patients to book. Please check back to this website regularly for updates. We anticipate having more information next Wednesday 24th February. If we have sent you an SMS message inviting you to book you will still be on our waiting list and able to reserve your vaccination once the slots are released. Thank you for your patience.

17th Feb 2021 – If you want to read more about the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccinations we are offering click here for:

Frequently Asked Questions

Pfizer Covid Vaccine Information Leaflet

AstraZeneca Covid vaccine information leaflet

9th Feb 2021 – Snow update: We are OPEN today. Thanks to our incredible volunteer snow clearing crews Massingham Drive is clear. The roads around Earls Colne are driveable and our staff are ready to vaccinate. Please click here for pictures.

Don’t worry if the weather conditions cause you to arrive later than your appointment, providing you are with us by 6pm, you will be vaccinated.

Please click here for the latest news about our COVID vaccination campaign.

Introduction

This website has been set up to help inform our patients about our COVID19 vaccination programme.

The Colne Valley Primary Care Network (PCN) consists of:

• Elizabeth Courtauld Surgery, Halstead
• Pump House Surgery, Earls Colne
• Freshwell Health Centre, Finchingfield
• Hedingham Medical Centre
• Kelvedon & Feering Health Centre
• Coggeshall Surgery

We have combined forces, joining together to vaccinate the patients of our combined populations who are eligible to receive the COVID19 vaccination.

Our vaccination centre is located at Pump House Surgery, Nonancourt Way, Earls Colne, C06 2SW.

NHS England (NHSE) have stipulated that GPs can only vaccinate their patients in one vaccination centre (or “hub”) per PCN and we selected the Pump House as the most suitable. We are pleased with how our vaccination campaign is going and we are aiming to deliver the best possible vaccination service that we can.

We do recognise that it would be more convenient for our patients to be vaccinated at their own surgeries, but unfortunately this is not permitted by NHSE, so we are not allowed to do this at the current time. We are allowed to do vaccinations to patients & their carers in care homes and we are hoping to be allowed to do vaccinations for the most vulnerable housebound patients in the near future.

We will be contacting people when it is their turn to be booked in for their first (or second) vaccination. If you have a mobile phone number on your medical record then you will be invited to book by text message. There will be a link to click on which will then take you through the process. The only personal information you will be asked about is your date of birth. Be aware there are scams around pretending to be offering vaccination appointments. If you do not have a mobile number or a smart phone then do not worry, we will contact you by email or phone. Couples who are both eligible should try and attend together but both need booked appointments.

Appointment Booking

We are currently vaccinating:

• Those aged 80 and over
• Frontline health and social care workers
• Those aged 75 and over
• If we officially move on to the next group (as shown on this website) and you fear you have been missed then you should contact your surgery

I don’t have a mobile phone and/or the phone I have does not allow me to click on the link, what should I do?

Do not be concerned. We will phone you to book you in if you do not book in via the link in the message. Please do not phone the surgery, wait to be contacted. Alternatively:

• You can type the link into a web browser and book that way
• You could forward the link to a trusted family member who could book you in for you
• The link is unique to you so you should not share it with anyone else

I have received two text invites at the same time, what should I do?

Most likely this is because you and a partner share the same mobile number. You will need to do the process twice using the correct date of birth for the person the message is addressed to. Try and book appointments at similar times so you can come together.

What about my second appointment?

You will be invited again closer to the time of your second appointment. You only need to book one appointment at a time.

Do you need people for a waiting list?

Sometimes at the end of a vaccination clinic there are some remaining doses that need using up and cannot be kept overnight. To avoid wastage we may phone a small number of people and ask them to come in at short notice. There is no formal waiting list but the people phoned will be those who were due to be invited soon. In some situations a spare dose might be used on a housebound patient at the end of a clinic to avoid wastage.

Who will be vaccinated next?

The government has published guidance on the order in which the vaccines should be prioritised. The order is:

1. Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. All those 75 years of age and over
4. All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals (those who were shielding)
5. All those 65 years of age and over
6. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality (we suspect this will be all those who are normally eligible for a flu jab)
7. All those 60 years of age and over
8. All those 55 years of age and over
9. All those 50 years of age and over

Who cannot be vaccinated?

The following people currently cannot be vaccinated:

• Any person with a history of anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) to an ingredient of the relevant vaccine
• Pfizer/BioNtech ingredients can be found here
• AstraZeneca/Oxford ingredients can be found here

Are you pregnant or breast feeding?

• New advice has been published on 30/12/20 (page 6)
• Vaccination can be considered but only if the benefits are felt to outweigh the risks

What should you do now?

• Do consider getting your flu vaccination if you have not done so already, at your local pharmacy, though please bear in mind that you should not have the COVID vaccination within 7 days of any other vaccination.
• Wait to be contacted to be booked in
• Read on to see what to expect when you are invited

Before you attend:

• We advise only booking an appointment slot if you have made your decision to have the vaccination
• Written details on possible side effects are below
• There are now two vaccines available Pfizer/BioNtech or Oxford/AstraZeneca
• You should be advised in the booking process which you are attending for but there is a possibility (especially at the end of a clinic) that you may be offered the other vaccine
• You will need to attend a second appointment which will be around 12 weeks later – we will contact you closer to the time to arrange this.
• You should have the same type of vaccination at the second dose

Pfizer/BioNtech

Any person with a history of anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) to this vaccine or an ingredient of the vaccine should not be vaccinated with this medicine.

The ingredients of this Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine can be found here (in section 6).

Oxford/AstraZeneca

Any person with a history of anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) to this vaccine or an ingredient of the vaccine should not be vaccinated with this medicine.

The ingredients of this Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccine can be found here (in section 6).

On The Day:

Please wear a face mask and maintain two meters from other households.

There is a one way system within the Pump House building and our team of volunteers will assist you and show you the way.

You may bring a family member/carer with you if this is helpful. You will both need to wait 15 minutes after your injection (Pfizer vaccine only) before leaving the building.

Those who have had the Oxford vaccine should not drive for 15 minutes although do not need to wait onsite, unless you would like to and there is space available in the observation room.

Car Parking

After your injection:

• We will endeavour to give you an information leaflet about the vaccine that you have been given. These are supplied to us from central NHS supplies, though supply has been somewhat patchy recently. You can download your copy by clicking on the following links:
  • Pfizer information leaflet
  • Oxford Astra Zeneca leaflet
• You will be contacted to arrange your second dose closer to the time (around 10-12 weeks after the first)
• Keep your vaccination record card in a safe place so you can bring it to your next appointment
• Continue to take precautions as if you have not been vaccinated, no vaccine is 100% effective
• It takes around 3 weeks for potential immunity to develop
• Treat any vaccine side effects with paracetamol if needed but seek medical attention if you are concerned